Lasting shoes



M. CUOZZO LASTING SHOES March 21, 1944.

Filed Sept. 3, 1941' 5 Sheets-Sheet l 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 21, 1944.-M. CUOZZO LASTING SHOES Filed Sept. 3, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 PatentedMar. 21, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LASTING snoss Michele Cuozzo,Lynn, Mass. Application September 3, 1941, Serial No. 409,368

18 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in lasting shoes and has'as itsprimary object the method of lasting a pair of shoes in a singleoperation.

Heretofore it has been the universal practice, so far as it is known, tolast the two shoes of a pair independently. Thus there was no certaintythat both shoes of a pair would be subjected to the same lasting stressand would have the same appearance when finished or would wear equallywell. Moreover, the usual lasting methods, so far as factory productionis concerned, ordinarily require expensive machinery and highly skilledoperators. Among the advantages of the present invention are thereduction in the time consumed in lasting a pair of shoes; the provisionof a very simple method which can be performed for example by relativelyinexpensive machinery and by relatively unskilled operatives; theassurance that both shoes of a pair will be subjected to the sam lastingstress and will thus have substantially the same appearance whencompleted and will wear substantially equally; and further a saving inupper leather since the usual lasting margin may be substantiallyreduced. Other and further objects and advantages of the invention willappear from the following more detailed description and by reference tothe accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of twosuperposed comunit along the lasting margin;

Fig. 14 is a side elevational view of a pair of lasts carrying insoleswith the quarter unit of Fig. 13 attached thereto:

Fig. illustrates a vamp unit consisting of two tongues connected bystraps; and

Fig. 16 is a side elevational view of a pair of lasts carrying insoleswith the straps of the unit of Fig. 15 attached thereto;

plete uppers of a pair of shoes which have been united at the vamps inaccordance with this Y invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the uppersv of Fig. 1 turnedinside out;

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation, with parts broken away, of theuppers of Figs. 1 and 2 assembled with the insoles upon a pair of lasts:

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken along theline 4-4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 illustrates in perspective the uppers, insoles and lasts mountedin a machine by which the vamps of the uppers are pulled over andattached to the insoles;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through the machine of Fig. 5, one ofthe lasts with its insole and upper being removed;

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation of a machine by which the quartersand shanks of a pair of shoes are pulled over and attached to theinsoles;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan view of the wiping element of such machine;

Fig. 9 is a perspective'viewwf a welt which may be assembledwith theshoes:

The application of the invention to the manufacture of shoes having fulluppers will now be described with particular reference to Figs. 1 to 8inclusive of the drawings.

A pair of complete uppers 20 provided with elastic box toe linings 2|(only one shown) is laid face to face with the outer surfaces in contactand united at the edges by a row of stitches 22 along the lastingmargins. The united right and left uppers are then turned to expose theouter surfaces, and the heel counters applied in the usual manner to theclosed heels. Lasts 25 to which insoles 28 are tacked are otherwisesecured, are then inserted into the uppers, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.Prior to the insertion of the lasts the insoles 23 are treated along thebottom edges with a suitable adhesive such as pyroxylin or liquidplastic cement or thermoplastic cement. When pyroxyiin cement isemployed it is activated by an acetone solution before the lasts areinserted... If a thermoplastic cement is employed it is activated byheat at a later stage in the process. I

The pulling over of the uppers is preferably though not necessarilyperformed by the use of an appropriate machine. The numeral 3|! (Fig. 5)designates a very simple mechanism for the purpose. The pulling over inthe machine 30 is performed by a-looped constricting strand 3! of wireor suitable strong and flexible material. The united uppers on theirrespective lasts are so presented to the machine that the loop portionof the 38 Fixed to the adjacent edges of the tables 33 are journalbearings 35 which receive the ends of shafts 3'! carrying pulleys orgrooved rollers 38 over which the strand 3| is guided. These pulleys '38are arranged to cause the crossing point of the strand to be located atthe desired point relative to the shoe and, to accommodate shoes ofdifferent sizes, the shafts 31 may be mounted in adjustable bearings ifdesired. The shaft 35 is rotatably supported in Journal bearings 40mounted on two .of the legs 34 and carries at one end a disk 4| providedwith a handle'42 and at the other end a ratchet 43. The lasts 25carrying the uppers 20 are supported on the tables 33 with the strand 3|in the space 32 (see Fig. 5). The strand 3| crosses just below the ballportions of the vamps (Fig. 6) so that, when the shaft 35 until themargins of the uppers have adhered firmly to insoles 25. In order towipe the margins over the insoles at the shank, spools 39 of rubber orsimilar material are slipped along the strand so thatwhen the strand istightened the spools 39 will be located as in Figs. 5 and 6.

The two lasts 25 carrying the uppers 20 thus attached to the insoles 26are then mounted in a machine 45 by which the heel seats and shanks ofthe uppers are pulled over and attached to the insole and the lasting ofboth shoes completed. The machine 45 comprises a post 45 on which aresupported a pair of arms 41 and 48 and a wiping device, 49. The device49 comprises a pair of wipers 50 which may be solid rubber or inflatablebags, pivotally supported at one end upon a sleeve 5| through which thepost 45 passes. The wipers 50 are yieldably held in contact with eachother as by a bolt 52 passed through both wipers 50, a coil spring 53and a crank 54 threaded on one end of the bolt 52, the other end beingfixed in one wiper 50. The tension of the spring 53 between the crank 54and the other wiper 50 is regulated by the crank 54 so that the wipersare yieldably advanced toward each other to pull over the margins of theheel seats and shanks and wipe them against the adhesive coated surfacesof the insole 25. The lasts 25 are held in the machine 45 by the arms 41and 48 between which the lasts are positioned as shown in Fig. 7. Thearm 41 rests upon a collar 55 fixed on the post 46. The arm 48 carries apinion 55 which meshes with a rack 51 on the post and which is rotatedby a crank 58 to resist separation of the lasts during the wipingoperation. The sleeve 5| is yieldably held in position on the post 45 bysprings 58 and collars 60 so that the wipers engage both uppers.

The lasted uppers and insoles are at this stage joined to form twocompletely lasted shoes still connected at the forepart. The connectionat the forepart is now severed, preferably by a knife at the space 32,and the making of the shoes is 7 completed separately in any well knownmanner.

If it be desired that the finished shoes be provided with welts, aV-shaped strip 65 is inserted in the space 32 before pulling over theforeparts of the uppers in the machine (see Figs. 9 and 10). Thecontacting surfaces of the strip 55 and the uppers 20 are joined by asuitable. adhesive. The strand 3| seats the strip 65 in position whenthe pulling over of the foreparts previously described starts. Thosesurfaces of the upper which contact with the strip 35 are preferablyroughened before adhesive is applied. a

This invention is applicable to the manufacture of scuffs and othershoes having an upper consisting of a vamp alone or in combination witha separate quarter. As shown in Figs. 11 and 12, two vamps 10 aresuperimposed with the outer surfaces in contact and joined by a line ofstitch-.

ing 1|. alongLthe inner edges of the lasting margins. The vamps ID arethen turned and lasts 15 carrying insoles I5 inserted. A strand 1!similar to the strand 3| previously described is employed to pull overthe margins of the vamps and attach them to the outer surfaces of theinsoles which have previously been provided with adhesive coatings. Thevamps 10 are separated and the shoes completed independently.

If shoes having separate vamps and quarter are desired the quarters 30are "prepared as shown in Figs. 13 and 14. The quarters are joined withthe outer surfaces in contact by a line of stitching 8| along the edgesof the lasting margins and wrapped around lasts to which have beenattached the insoles 18 carrying the vamps 10. The lasts 85 may betruncated, the foreparts being removed so that the toe portions of, theinsoles 16 with the vamps ID are free. The insoles and quarters areassembled on the lasts and secured by tacks or the like in the wellknown manner. A strand 81 is employed to pull over the margins of thequarters 30 and attach them to the insoles in'the same manner as are thevamps 10 treated. The quarters 80 are then severed and the shoessuitably completed independently. It will be understood, however, thatthis operation may be reversed and the insoles 15 secured to thequarters before'assembly with the lasts 15 or that the quarters may beattached to insoles carrying uppers of other types than that describedor carrying no uppers whatsoever.

This invention is also applicable to the lasting of shoes, e. g. sandalswhose forepart uppers each comprises a tongue and a plurality of strapsconnecting the'tongue with the insole. Heretofore the straps have beeninlasted and secured separately to the insoles, which has required theexpenditure of considerable time and labor and much skill in order toprovide equal stretch of the several straps. Figs. 15 and 16 illustrateone way of employing this invention in lasting shoes of this type. Twotongues are Joined by a plurality of straps 9| to form a pocket, thestraps varying in length as required by the finished shoes. Lastsprovided with insoles 96 are inserted into the pocket thus formed, withthe tongues 90 resting on the cones of the lasts. The straps 9|, whichas shown in Fig. 16 extend over the toes of both lasts, are pulled overthe insoles 96 and secured thereto by a strand 91 in the mannerpreviously described. The portions of the straps thus brought intocontact with the insoles 95 are secured thereto by adhesive or othermeans in the well known manner. The straps are severed along the linetaken by the strand 3! and the shoes completed independently in themanner desired.

From the preceding description it will be noted that the essence of thisinvention resides in the simultaneous lasting of a' pair of shoes.Several ways of carrying out this invention have been disclosed as byforming the uppers of the two shoes (either complete. uppers, vamps orquarters) as a single unit, assembling said unit with both lasts,pulling over the unit and attaching it to the insoles and severing theunit between the insole attached portions thereof. The pulling overandiattaching of this unit are described as performed by a constrictingstrand of wire or any other strong and flexible material suitable forthe purpose actuated by a mechanical means, but obviously means otherthan constrictive strands, for instance, suitably actuated wiper-platesor the like, might be employed, and the strands or other devices may beactuated manually. Moreover when making shoes having full uppers, theforeparts of the shoes are first lasted, and then the quarters andshanks are simultaneously lasted before the foreparts of the two shoesare separated.

While several embodiments of the invention have been shown and describedin detail, it will be understood that the invention is not limitedthereto and that other embodiments thereof may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the followingclaims.

' Iclaim:

1. The method'of lasting a pair of shoes simultaneously which comprisesas steps preparing a pouch-like blank suitable to form corresponding endportions of a right upper and a left upper respectively, insertingcorresponding end portions of a right and a left last in said blank withthe bottoms of the lasts opposed to each other, and applyingconstrictive force to the blank in a plane substantially midway betweenthe last bottoms, thereby to force portions of the blank inwardlybetween the last bottoms and snugly to stretch said end portions of theupper about the end portions of the respective lasts.

2. The method of lasting a pair of shoes simultaneously which includesthe steps of Joining the lasting margins of corresponding elements ofthe two shoe uppers to form a unit, and assembling' the two lasts onwhich the shoes are to be lasted with such unit.

3. The method of lasting a pair of shoes simultaneously which includesthe steps of joining the lasting margins of corresponding elements ofthe two shoe uppers to form a unit, ailixing the insoles to the twolasts on which the shoes are to be lasted, and assembling the lasts andinsoles with such unit.

4. The method of lasting a pair of shoes simultaneously which includesthe steps of joining the lasting margins of corresponding elements ofthe two shoe uppers to form a unit, affixing the insoles to the twolasts on which the shoes are to be lasted, assembling the lasts andinsoles with such unit, and pulling the unit over both lasts.

5. The method of lasting a pair of shoes simultaneously which includesthe steps of joining the lasting margins of corresponding elements ofthe two shoe uppers to form a unit, afhxing the insoles to the two lastson which the shoes are to be lasted, assembling the lasts and insoleswith such unit, and pulling the unit over both lasts and attaching themargins of the elements forming the unit to the outer surface of saidinsoles.

6. That method of lasting simultaneously a pair of shoes having fulluppers which includes the steps of superposing the vamps of said upperswith their outer surfaces in contact, joining the lasting margins ofsaid vamps, turning said uppers, affixing insoles to the lasts on whichshoes are to be lasted, assembling the-lasts and insoles with theuppers, pulling the joined vamps over said lasts, and attaching thelasting margins thereof to said insoles.

7. That method of lasting simultaneously a pair of shoes having fulluppers which includes the steps of superposing the vamps of said upperswith their outer surfaces in contact, Joining the lasting margins ofsaid vamps, turning said uppers, affixing insoles to the lasts on whichshoes are to be lasted, assembling the lasts and insoles with theuppers, pulling the Joined vamps over said lasts and attaching thelasting margins thereof to said insoles, pulling the lasting margins ofthe shanks and quarters over said lasts, and attaching the lastingmargins thereof to said insoles, and serving said vamps between theattached lasting margins.

8. That method of lasting simultaneously a pair of shoes which includesthe steps of superposing the vamps with the outer surfaces in contact,joining the lasting margins of said vamps to form a unit, turning saidvamps, inserting into the units the toes of a pair of lasts and insoles,pulling said vamps over said lasts, attaching the lasting marginsthereof to said insoles, and separating the vamps between the attachedlasting margins.

9. That method of lasting simultaneously a pair of shoes which includesthe steps of superposing the vamps with the outer surfaces in contact,Joining the lasting margins of said vamps to form a unit, turning saidvamps, inserting into the units the toes of a pair of lasts and insoles,rendering the outer surfaces of the foreparts of the insoles adhesiveadjacent to their edges, and tightening a strand upon the unit betweenthe outer surfaces of the insoles to pull the vamps over the lasts towipe the margins of the vamps against the adhesive areas of the insolesand to hold the margins in contact with the insoles until attachedthereto and severing the unit between such margins.

10. That method of lasting simultaneously a pair of shoes which includesjoining the two quarters along the lasting margins with the outersurfaces in contact to form a unit, assembling insoles with two lasts,wrapping the unit around the heel ends of the lasts and insoles with theline of Joinder between the insoles, securing the upper edges of thequarters to the lasts, pulling the quarters over the lasts, attachingthe lasting margins to the outer surfaces of the insoles, and separatingthe quarters between the attached lasting margins. 4

11. That method of lasting simultaneously a pair of shoes which includesjoining the two quarters along the lasting margins with the outersurfaces in contact to form a unit, assembling insoles with two lasts,wrapping the unit around the heel ends of the lasts and insoles with theline of joinder between the insoles, securing the upper edges of thequarters to the lasts, rendering the outer surfaces of the heel ends ofthe insoles adhesive adjacent to the edges thereof, tightening a strandabout the unit between the outer surfaces of the insoles to pull thequarters over the lasts and wipe the margins of the quarters against theadhesive areas of the insoles, holding the margins in contact with theinsoles until attached thereto, and severing the unit between suchmargins.

12. That method of lasting simultaneously a pair of shoes having vampswhich comprise a tongue portion and a plurality of straps connecting thetongue portion with the insole which method includes the steps offorming a pouch-like unit consisting of two tongue portions connected bya plurality of straps. inserting into such unit a a pair of lasts withwhich insoles are associated with the tongue portions in contact withthe cones of the lasts, rendering the outer surfaces of the foreparts ofthe insoles adhesive adjacent the edges thereto, tightening a strandupon the portions of the straps between the insoles to pull the vampsover the lasts and wipe the straps against the adhesive areas of theinsoles, holding the straps in contact with such areas until attachedthereto, and severing the straps between the attached portions.

13. That method of lasting shoes which comprises as steps preparing apouch-like blank suitable to form a right upper and a left upper,inserting a pair of lasts in said blank, and forcing portions of theblank inwardly between the bottoms of the lasts thereby-snugly tostretch the uppers about their respective lasts.

14. That method of -lasting shoes which comprises as steps providing aright and a left upper, uniting the lasting margins of said uppers whilethe uppers are inside out, turning the uppers, inserting a last in eachupper, assembling a V- shaped strip with the portions of the uppersbetween the lasts, rendering the contacting surfaces of strip and uppersadhesive, and causing constricting means to engage the strip and toforce the strip and the uppers in contact therewith inwardly between thelast bottoms thereby simultaneously drawing the uppers snugly abouttheir respective lasts.

15. That method of lasting shoes which comassasos prises as stepsproviding a right and a left upper, uniting said uppers to form apouch-like blank, inserting a last and an insole into each upper, andengaging constricting means with the outer surfaces of the uppersbetween the insoles and thereby forcing said uppers inwardly between theinsoles so as to draw the uppers snugly about their respective lasts.

16. That stage product in the simultaneous lasting of a pair of shoeswhich comprises a right and a left shoe upper disposed with theirlasting margins in contact, and means uniting said mar- 17. That stageproduct in the simultaneous lasting of a pair of shoes which comprises acorresponding end portion of a right and a left shoe upper, said endportions having their lasting margins firmly united, each of said endportions being completely lasted.

18. That method of lasting-shoes which comprises as steps providingcorresponding end portions of a right and a left upper, uniting thelasting margins of said end portions while said end portions are insideout and turning the united end portions thereby forming a. pouch-likeunit, inserting within said pouch-like unit rigid forming means havingsurfaces contoured like the uppershaping surfaces of a pair 01' lasts,and applying constrictive force to the pouch-like unit in a planesubstantially midway between said upper-shaping surfaces of the formingmeans thereby to stretch and last the respective upper end portionsabout the respective upper-shaping surfaces of the said forming means.

MICHELE CUOZZO.

. cxnnmcnm 0F conmzcnon. Patent No, 2,3h1p,5'O, March 21, 191414..

MICHELE GUOZZO.

It is hereby certified that error appear: in theprinted specification orthe above numbered patent requiring correction as follows; Page 5,second column, line 15, claim 7, for 'eerving' read wavering; eudth'atthe said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein thatthe same may conform to the record of the ceee in the Patent OfficeSigned and sealed this 9th day or Hay, A. 1:. 19%.

Leslie Frazer (seal) Acting commissioner of Patents.

